Ike rekindles oil waste fight

Published: Wednesday, October 1, 2008 at 3:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, October 1, 2008 at 2:53 p.m.

GRAND BOIS — When the floods come to this tiny American Indian community, which straddles both sides of the Bourg-Larose Highway in a wooded no-man’s land between Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, the people distinguish between two types of water.

One is the usual brownish soup that comes from the nearby Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, locals say.

The other is dark, covered with a sheen and smells like fuel, said Clarice Friloux, a 42-year-old local mother who has spent 14 years fighting U.S. Liquids, an oilfield-waste site that has operated down the road from her house for close to three decades.

When Hurricane Ike’s floodwaters pushed into Grand Bois more than two weeks ago, the water that covered the community, lapping at the doors of some houses and flooding others on the south side of the highway, was of the latter variety, she said.

“It was black,” Friloux said. “And you could see the multicolored sheen on the water.”

Standing on the shoulder of the highway near the St. Louis Canal bridge, Friloux’s brother, R.J. Molinere, pointed to a ditch on the side of the road.

“That was nothing but a big old oil slick right there,” Molinere said.

NO EVIDENCE OF RUNOFF

However, officials from the state Department of Environmental Quality and a vice president at the oilfield-waste management company say there is no evidence any runoff from the sprawling facility, which takes in “drilling mud” and production sludge from several energy industry sources, has caused contamination in the area.

Pat Breaux, from the DEQ’s surveillance division, said the agency conducted an inspection Sept. 17 and found no indication of any contaminated flooding or runoff from the open pits where the oilfield waste is slung into the air, spread out and systematically flushed of salt water.

The film on top of the water was the result of “decayed plant matter,” Breaux said.

The state made a similar determination in 2005 following Hurricane Rita-related flooding.

Wayne Crawley, vice president of regulatory affairs for U.S. Liquids, formerly Campbell Wells, said none of the levees ringing the treatment “cells” – the company does not use the word “pits” – were overtopped by Ike’s flooding.

Neither has seepage from the cells or storm-water runoff posed a threat to the community of Grand Bois, Crawley added.

Despite several studies, the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the DEQ have never uncovered evidence that the U.S. Liquids operation posed a hazard to Grand Bois, according to Crawley.

“We had two very intensive studies and a great deal of regulatory oversight,” Crawley said. “There’s no evidence of offsite migration or offsite problems.”

The so-called “noncontact storm water,” or runoff from areas separate from the treatment cells, is uncontaminated and tested before discharge. The water used to treat the waste is collected and disposed of in on-site injection wells, according to company permits.

“We’re trying to work with the citizens and trying to maintain a good relationship,” Crawley said. “I really don’t think we’re causing a health problem in the community.”

LAWSUIT WAS SETTLED

Complaining of a range of health problems from potential water contamination and a host of ailments from the acrid air surrounding Grand Bois, some 300 residents sued the company en masse before reaching a settlement in 1998.

According to the terms of the settlement, the company was to close four pits and build a large berm on both sides of the Bourg-Larose Highway to shield locals from the dust and odor that emanated from the site, according to Friloux.

The berms have yet to be built, she noted, adding that residents are considering a federal lawsuit to force the company to comply with the terms of the settlement.

The people of Grand Bois want the berms to be built with “virgin” dirt, not the materials left over after water is leached from the oilfield waste, Friloux said.

“Anything that comes off of those berm walls goes off of those walls and into the ditches and our bayous,” she said.

The levees that surround the pits are also built of the same material, which contain toxic heavy metals from the petroleum exploration and production process. The metals combine with the residual soil after the process and are kept onsite as “reuse materials,” according to Wilma Subra, an environmental chemist and advocate who worked extensively with the people of Grand Bois in attempting to have U.S. Liquids shut down.

“A large quantity of them are hazardous and very toxic,” she said.

Typically found in the waste streams processed at U.S. Liquids are barium, chromium, lead, zinc and chemical solutions used as in the drilling and extraction process, she added.

With the noxious materials – including benzene, a known carcinogen with other adverse health effects – released into the air and the potential for other forms of contamination, the site continues to pose real risks for the community, Subra said.

“The air emissions are a problem. The dust from the reused material is a real problem and the potential for contamination of the groundwater,” the chemist said.

‘NO CONFIDENCE’ IN DEQ

Friloux said she was not surprised by the DEQ’s findings following Ike.

“That’s the DEQ’s job. To protect the industry,” Friloux said.

She believes the agency can be counted on to favor industrial interests over a small

community of mostly low-income people in a forgotten part of the state.

“I have no confidence at all in the Department of Environmental Quality,” Friloux said. “They’ve proven to us over and over in the years that they work for the industry. Not for the people, but the industry.”

An EPA official pledged to try to help bring both sides to the negotiating table in a conference meeting in the next few weeks, but, after years of conference calls and meetings, Friloux is not optimistic about arriving at a solution.

“Seems like a waste of time sometimes. Well, most of the time,” she said. “Honestly what’s going to happen, you’re going to write the article, people are going to talk about it, then next month, nothing, People are going to sympathize with me. But there’s no help coming my way.”

Senior Staff Writer Robert Zullo can be reached at 850-1150 or robert.zullo@houmtoday.com.

CORRECTION:

A sub-headline in this story originally contained an error. The Concerned Citizens of Grand Bois did not win a lawsuit filed against U.S. Liquids. The parties reached a settlement.

<p>GRAND BOIS  When the floods come to this tiny American Indian community, which straddles both sides of the Bourg-Larose Highway in a wooded no-man’s land between Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, the people distinguish between two types of water.</p><p>One is the usual brownish soup that comes from the nearby Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, locals say.</p><p>The other is dark, covered with a sheen and smells like fuel, said Clarice Friloux, a 42-year-old local mother who has spent 14 years fighting U.S. Liquids, an oilfield-waste site that has operated down the road from her house for close to three decades.</p><p>When Hurricane Ike’s floodwaters pushed into Grand Bois more than two weeks ago, the water that covered the community, lapping at the doors of some houses and flooding others on the south side of the highway, was of the latter variety, she said.</p><p>It was black, Friloux said. And you could see the multicolored sheen on the water.</p><p>Standing on the shoulder of the highway near the St. Louis Canal bridge, Friloux’s brother, R.J. Molinere, pointed to a ditch on the side of the road.</p><p>That was nothing but a big old oil slick right there, Molinere said.</p><p></p><p>NO EVIDENCE OF RUNOFF</p><p>However, officials from the state Department of Environmental Quality and a vice president at the oilfield-waste management company say there is no evidence any runoff from the sprawling facility, which takes in drilling mud and production sludge from several energy industry sources, has caused contamination in the area.</p><p>Pat Breaux, from the DEQ’s surveillance division, said the agency conducted an inspection Sept. 17 and found no indication of any contaminated flooding or runoff from the open pits where the oilfield waste is slung into the air, spread out and systematically flushed of salt water.</p><p>The film on top of the water was the result of decayed plant matter, Breaux said.</p><p>The state made a similar determination in 2005 following Hurricane Rita-related flooding.</p><p>Wayne Crawley, vice president of regulatory affairs for U.S. Liquids, formerly Campbell Wells, said none of the levees ringing the treatment cells – the company does not use the word pits – were overtopped by Ike’s flooding.</p><p>Neither has seepage from the cells or storm-water runoff posed a threat to the community of Grand Bois, Crawley added.</p><p>Despite several studies, the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the DEQ have never uncovered evidence that the U.S. Liquids operation posed a hazard to Grand Bois, according to Crawley.</p><p> We had two very intensive studies and a great deal of regulatory oversight, Crawley said. There’s no evidence of offsite migration or offsite problems.</p><p>The so-called noncontact storm water, or runoff from areas separate from the treatment cells, is uncontaminated and tested before discharge. The water used to treat the waste is collected and disposed of in on-site injection wells, according to company permits.</p><p>We’re trying to work with the citizens and trying to maintain a good relationship, Crawley said. I really don’t think we’re causing a health problem in the community.</p><p></p><p>LAWSUIT WAS SETTLED</p><p>Complaining of a range of health problems from potential water contamination and a host of ailments from the acrid air surrounding Grand Bois, some 300 residents sued the company en masse before reaching a settlement in 1998.</p><p>According to the terms of the settlement, the company was to close four pits and build a large berm on both sides of the Bourg-Larose Highway to shield locals from the dust and odor that emanated from the site, according to Friloux.</p><p>The berms have yet to be built, she noted, adding that residents are considering a federal lawsuit to force the company to comply with the terms of the settlement.</p><p>The people of Grand Bois want the berms to be built with virgin dirt, not the materials left over after water is leached from the oilfield waste, Friloux said.</p><p>Anything that comes off of those berm walls goes off of those walls and into the ditches and our bayous, she said.</p><p>The levees that surround the pits are also built of the same material, which contain toxic heavy metals from the petroleum exploration and production process. The metals combine with the residual soil after the process and are kept onsite as reuse materials, according to Wilma Subra, an environmental chemist and advocate who worked extensively with the people of Grand Bois in attempting to have U.S. Liquids shut down.</p><p>A large quantity of them are hazardous and very toxic, she said.</p><p>Typically found in the waste streams processed at U.S. Liquids are barium, chromium, lead, zinc and chemical solutions used as in the drilling and extraction process, she added.</p><p>With the noxious materials – including benzene, a known carcinogen with other adverse health effects – released into the air and the potential for other forms of contamination, the site continues to pose real risks for the community, Subra said.</p><p>The air emissions are a problem. The dust from the reused material is a real problem and the potential for contamination of the groundwater, the chemist said.</p><p></p><p>NO CONFIDENCE’ IN DEQ</p><p>Friloux said she was not surprised by the DEQ’s findings following Ike.</p><p>That’s the DEQ’s job. To protect the industry, Friloux said.</p><p>She believes the agency can be counted on to favor industrial interests over a small </p><p>community of mostly low-income people in a forgotten part of the state.</p><p>I have no confidence at all in the Department of Environmental Quality, Friloux said. They’ve proven to us over and over in the years that they work for the industry. Not for the people, but the industry.</p><p>An EPA official pledged to try to help bring both sides to the negotiating table in a conference meeting in the next few weeks, but, after years of conference calls and meetings, Friloux is not optimistic about arriving at a solution.</p><p>Seems like a waste of time sometimes. Well, most of the time, she said. Honestly what’s going to happen, you’re going to write the article, people are going to talk about it, then next month, nothing, People are going to sympathize with me. But there’s no help coming my way.</p><p>Senior Staff Writer Robert Zullo can be reached at 850-1150 or robert.zullo@houmtoday.com.</p><p>CORRECTION:</p><p>A sub-headline in this story originally contained an error. The Concerned Citizens of Grand Bois did not win a lawsuit filed against U.S. Liquids. The parties reached a settlement.</p>